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Heading into 2021 training camp the Bills had two players on injury watch stemming from bumps and bruises sustained last season: Running back Zack Moss and offensive lineman Cody Ford.
Moss broke his ankle in the postseason against the Colts and his season was done right away. Ford had multiple issues last year, which has led to offseason surgery.
At minicamp, the update from the Bills was that both players would be back by training camp. They are, but they’re both taking it slow and are getting back into the flow of things.
Despite that, both have recently given good updates to the way they’re currently feeling.
Moss said that the ankle rehab has actually had some good side effects. His whole lower body is feeling right.
“The last month and a half we just ramped it up,” Moss said via video conference. “This is the strongest I felt in my lower body from my quads to my calves to my ankles.”
Ford gave some insight into potentially the tougher side of injury recovery. Ford, who had knee surgery most recently, talked about the mental side of things.
“I’ve come back this fall camp with a whole new mentality, a whole new mindset,” Ford said on Friday. ” “In this whole offseason, the one thing that the recovery did allow me to do was it gave me time to think. It gave me time to rediscover myself and figure out what’s my ‘why’ again… why I’m doing this and what it’s going to take to get the job done.”
Ford also referenced how much support from the team has meant to him. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane, specifically, has praised Ford during his bouts on the sideline.
“It showed me that they still have faith in me,” Ford said.
Ford went on to add that he talked to a mental health professional after missing time once again in 2020. The first two years of his career have been overshadowed by injury.
Both Moss and Ford will look to bounce-back in a big way from their respective injuries in 2021.
The duo are recent Day 2 selections by the Bills at the NFL draft. Considering their talents in being early draft picks, if both are healthy and can produce, their efforts could help push the Bills over the hill and closer to the Super Bowl.
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